Improvement in clasps for skirt-hoops



Ni'rn Srnrns A'rnNr OFFICE.

GEORGE W. CHEESMAN, OF ANSONIA, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND J.W. OSBORNE, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CLASPS FOR SKIRT-HOOPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 52,639, dated February13, 1866.

To all whom 'it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. CHEES- MAN, of Ansonia, in the county ofNew Haven and State ot' Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Clasps for Hoop-Skirts 5 and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which willenable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ot' thisspecification, in which Figure l represents a clasp made according' tomy invention. Fig. 2 is a face view thereof when it is applied to ahoop. Fig. 3 is a side view thereof when it is applied to a hoop. Fig. 4is an example of aclasp as made before my invention.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

The object of this invention is to improve the clasps which are used tosecure and contne the ends of the hoops ot'hoop-skirts; and it consistsin notching the ends of the clasps near its edges-that is to say, atthose points on its ends which are to be bent over upon the hoops, forthe purpose of making the work of bending them down more easy to bedone, and also of enhancing` the probability that the ends ot' theclasps will be embedded in the ibrous covering of the hoops.

Referring to the drawings, A designates a clasp made ready to be appliedto a skirt-hoop. Its sides are bent up on vertical lines at such adistance from each other as to permit a skirt-hoop to be laid llatbetween them upon the horizontal or back part of the clasp, the distanceot' the sides ofthe clasp apart being, of course, to be determined bythe width of the hoop for which it is made.

The ordinary shape ot' hoop-clasps is seen in Fig. 4, which shows aclasp bent over upon the ends of a hoop. It will be observed that itsends are square. There is a disadvantage in this form, because a greatdegree of strength is required to turn down the anges fof the clasp andmake them bite the hoop; and, since the work of placing them on thehoops is usually done by women, it is desirable that the degree of forcerequired to turn them be as small as possible. Moreover, in placing theends of a skirt-hoop in a clasp it is desirable to turn down theextremities of the anges at one end of the clasps, so as to attach theclasps to one end of the hoop for the purpose ot' holding the hoop whileits other end is being adjusted in the clasp. On this account it ispreferable to shape the ends of the clasps so as to call for very littlestrength in bending; and, besides this advantage, it gives thework-women greater facilities for doing the work'with speed and in aneat and tasteful manner.

In order to attain these advantages I have notched the ends ofthe claspnear to the edges ot' their tlanges f. The letters B designate thenotches.

Vhen the clasp is made thus the workwoman can bend and turn the ends ofthe flanges over upon the skirt-hoop, which is laid within the clasp,with great expedition, and when the whole line ofthe tlanges is ready tobe bent down they can be so bent with comparative ease, because of thestart or beginning' made in the bending at the ends of the clasp.

Furthermore, when the work-Woman is completing the bending of the claspshe can make the anges lie smooth upon the hoop, since it becomescomparatively easy to remove corrugations and wrinkles from the ends ot'the clasps when they are notched.

The form ot' the clasps here shown, irrespective ot' the notches and thebend C in its center, resembles the style of the clasp formerl y usedfor extension-skirts-that is, skirts whose hoops were intended to beenlarged or contracted in diameter by sliding the hoops through theclasp; but in the example here shown the clasp is compressed upon thehoop, so as to hold its inclosed ends immovable, by a blow or bypressure delivered at or near the middle of the length of the clasp,whereby the clasp and the inclosed ends of the hoop which lap over eachother, as indicated in dotted outline in Fig. 3, are bent out ofparallelism with the ends ot' the clasp, as seen at C, and the ends ot'the hoop and the clasp become locked, so that they cannot slip past eachother.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- In clasps forskirt hoops, notching their ends, substantially as and for the purposesabove set forth.

GEO. W. GHEESMAN. Witnesses:

C. M. MINOR, GEORGE O'rro SOLMELLER.

